Railway-frog.



110.859,101. PATENTE) JULY 2, 1907. H. c. ODBNKIRK & P. PPUNDSTBIN.

RAILWAY PROG. APPLIoATIoN FILED JUNE 1a. 190e.

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No. 859,101'. PATENTBD JULY 2, 1907. H. o. ODENKIRK & P. PPUNDSTBIN.

RAILWAY FROG.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1a, 190e.V

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INVENTORS.

WITNESSES;

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1, the ears being connected by a hinge pintle 17.

UNITED sTATns PATENT OFFICE.

i HARRY C. ODENKIRK AND PHILLIP PFUNDSTEIN, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO.

RAILWAY-FROG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 2, 1907.

Application filed J'nne 18,1906. Serial No. 322,241.

To all lwhom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HARRY C. ODENKIRK and PHILLIP PFUNDsTEIN, bothcitizens of the United States, and both residing at Cleveland, in thecounty of Cuyahoga and State of Ohio, have invented a certain new anduseful Improvement inRailway-Frogs, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings.

Thisl invention relates to railway switches and frogs and theiroperating mechanism, and is designed to enable the switch and frog to beeach jointly shifted so that whichever way the switch is set the frogwill be correspondingly set to provide an unbroken track-way.

Our invention relates particularly to the hinging of the frog point, ashereinafter more fully described and delinitely set out in the claims.

ln the drawings, Figure l is a plan of our invention complete, the angleat which the siding leaves the main track being exaggerated forclearness; Fig. 2 is a cross section at the switch points as indicatedby the lines a-a of Fig. Il; Fig. 3 is a cross section at the frog asindicated by the line b-b of Fig. l; Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectionthrough the frog as indicated by the line c-c of Fig. l.

Referring to the parts by numerals, l represents the through rail of themain track; 2 andl 3 the other rail of the main track at opposite endsof the switch.

4 represents the through rail of the siding which at the switch mergeswith the rail 3. 5 represents the other rail of the siding.

The rails 2 and 5 are continued by the frog 6, which coperates witheither rail' 7 or 8, from which lead the switch points 9 and l0respectively. These switch points are coupled by a cross bar l1, whichis connected by a link l2 with switch stand 13.

The description so Afar given applies to the usual split switch. ln ourinvention, however, the frog and the formation rails 7 and S arepeculiar, as will now be described. I

Our frog instead of being spiked tothe ties is pivoted to the rails 2and 5 as shown in the drawings. i We accomplish this by a steel castingl5, bolted to the rails 2 and 5, and a casting 1G, bolted to the frog.These two castings have overlapping ears as shown in Fig. 4, There issufficient play between the frog and the rails 5 and 2 lto allow thefrog to be shifted. This play is shown at ,lS in Fig. l. lf the frogwere in the opposite position this play would betaken up and there wouldbe space at 19 between the frog and the rail 5.

The point of the frog is shown as resting on metal plates 2l, on theties 22. On the outer sides ofthe frog the rails 7 and are spiked inplace to the ties. These rails extend alongside of the rog, being bentat an angle to make proper engagement with the frog, and then curveoutwardly as shown at 24. Sutlicient space is provided between them sothat whichever one the frog engages there is proper clearance for thewheel-{iange between Jthe other side of the frog and the rail. The 4twopositions of the frog therefore provide a clear, continuous track forthe main track or siding as desired.

The frog is coupled with the switch points and their operating mechanismby a link 26, secured to the under side of the frog between. the ties22, a bell crank 27, on the outer side of the rail 2l, secured to thislink, a bell crank 28, secured to the link ll, and a link 30, connectingthe two bell cranks` The result of this connection is that when theswitch point is shifted in one direction or the other the frog iscorrespondingly shifted so that it is impossible for the frog to standin a different position from that at which the switch is set. Moreover,the switch stand which holds the switch points in place also, throughthe mechanism described, holds the frog in position.

Our mechanism has the advantage over the usual frog as well as springfrogs in that in our invention a continuous track is provided for boththe main track and the siding and no guard rails are required. With thespring frog the rail corresponding to our rail 7 is :tree for aconsiderable distance adjacent to the frog to allow it to spring backfor the siding trains. This is an element of danger for the main track.With our invention the two rails 7 and S are spiked tightly in place,the only free parts being the switch points and the frog, and these areheld in position by the switch standand the connecting mechanism.

We claim:

In a railway switch and frog mechanism the combination of a shiitablefrog point having two diverging rails, rails substantially alining withthe frog 4point rails, a hinge comprised entirely within the V-shapedspace provided by said rails and consisting of a member secured to thefrog point rails, a member extending uninterruptcdly from one o1. thealincd rails to the other, and being' se:

cured to each of said rails, said rails overlapping one above the other.and a hinge pintle securing said meinbers together, substantially asdescribed.

In testimony whereof, we hereunto allix our signatures in the presenceof two Witnesses.

HARRY C. ODENKIRK. PHLLTT. PFUNDSTEIN.

Witnesses M. MILLARD, ALFRED T. Sonny.

